Steal Of The Week: Our Little Black Book

We love books. Lots of them. In fact, John’s mom works at a library, which has definitely influenced John’s lifelong desire to be surrounded by stacks of books. And my dad and I often spent hours each Saturday morning trolling garage sales and making a beeline to the old books in search of ancient tomes with a story or two to tell (for a dime a piece). So the long and short of it is that we love books. Old ones, new ones, funny ones, serious ones, and especially inspiring ones.

And nothing even comes close to the inspiration that we’re constantly rediscovering in the pages of the Design Idea Book by Karen Templer. This compilation of interiors is not only fabulous when it comes to fresh color schemes and furniture arrangements, it raises the bar in the idea category (hence the name) and always gives us an exciting new perspective with regards to materials, layouts, and even unique accessorizing.

And don’t judge this book by its cover- every page gets better and better (and the aesthetic is anything but ordinary). At around $16 it’s the best bang for your buck in the book department (many expensive hard cover home decor books are three times as much and are a lot less interesting and inspired). You’re sure to find some pretty amazing ideas for your own home among the pages- and we love that a lot of the furnishings in the book aren’t over-the-top designer pieces that are totally out of our price range. Many things look like thrift store finds, pieces that have been given a second chance thanks to a can of spray paint, and even items that can be snagged at places like Michael’s & Target (arranged in an upscale and interesting way).

So in case it’s not painfully obvious, we’re head over heels for this book. And since we’re all about sharing our inspiration, we thought featuring our favorite design guidebook as our steal of the week would be the perfect way to shine the spotlight on a totally worthy read. Nothing beats snuggling up to a good book as the nights get colder and the days get shorter.

I have been going through your archives after finding your site a few months ago, and I just ordered this book used but in like new condition for $4.71 off Amazon. Score!! Can’t wait to check it out, thanks for the steal :)